1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to seamless airbag rings.
2. Background Art
A front passenger airbag in an automobile is typically mounted to the instrument panel and is located approximately in front of the front passenger seat. In older applications, there would typically be a door or other covering to conceal the airbag from view. In such applications, the door created a visible seam in the instrument panel.
For purposes of aesthetics, instrument panels have been developed to conceal the presence of a front passenger airbag by eliminating the visible seam in the instrument panel. One method of achieving a seamless instrument panel includes forming an opening in the substrate of the instrument panel and scoring the underside of the instrument panel cover to form a frangible seam which, when viewed from the passenger compartment of the vehicle, is not visible.
In one embodiment of such a system, the airbag assembly is mounted to the underside of the instrument panel's substrate through the use of an airbag ring, which may be plastic and which may be attached to the instrument panel's substrate by a vibration welding process. Once the airbag ring is mounted to the instrument panel, the airbag assembly is mounted to the airbag ring. In this manner, the airbag ring serves both as a direct interface between the airbag assembly and the instrument panel, and also serves to provide added strength and stability to the instrument panel's substrate.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems typically require that a second aperture be formed in the substrate of the instrument panel to allow the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ducts to vent into the passenger compartment. The presence of a second opening in the instrument panel's substrate can weaken the instrument panel's substrate and may require more space than is desirable or available.
The applicant's invention addresses this problem by integrating the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning duct mount with the airbag ring to form a unitary structure requiring only one opening in the instrument panel. This solution both strengthens the instrument panel and conserves space.